3 cybersecurity trends to look out for

1. AI creates new challenges

“AI is everywhere,” says Wouter Vandenbussche. “For the time being, most instances are still rather visionary, with very few testimonies about actual implementations. It’s still a little early to be talking about generative AI. The most important area of application for AI seems to be the SOC (Security Operations Center). AI acts as a kind of assistant to the SOC analyst and sometimes almost entirely replaces his/her full range of tasks. In the long run, AI will likely be a valuable tool in the fight against malicious AI applications.”

2. Consolidation

Experts at cybersecurity events confirm the consolidation that has been taking place in the sector for some time. Vandenbussche explains: “Consolidation is generating some tension in the market. In some cases, it demonstrates the shortcomings of best-of-breed solutions. Applications are not integrated, which complicates implementation and makes it less easy to anticipate incidents and a changing IT environment. Integrated platforms tend to respond faster and work on a larger scale.

So, consolidation certainly offers advantages. Nevertheless, new security companies are still providing a lot of innovation. Which shows that platforms are not yet covering all security needs. Some new solutions and value propositions are upcoming, such as SASE (Secure Access Service Edge). That's going to be a pretty dominant cybersecurity architecture.”

In the long run, AI will likely be a valuable tool in the fight against malicious AI applications.

Wouter Vandenbussche, Product Owner Cybersecurity Services at Proximus

3. Responsive approach

“In addition to prevention, detection and response technologies and services have also come to the forefront in recent years,” Vandenbussche continued. Hackers are increasingly able to evade the protection mechanisms, which means that prevention alone is no longer enough. “Solutions such as Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Cross Detection and Response (XDR) are therefore becoming more commonplace. These solutions use machine learning and AI to discover automated security alerts on the abovementioned integrated platforms.

However, many organizations lack the knowledge and the employees to continuously monitor security alerts. That’s where MDR (managed detection and response) service providers step in, by performing the analysis and response actions for their customers. Another observation: those in control of their cybersecurity environment are able to act more proactively.”